Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
by xSarahxMariexCullen
Summary: Sequel to Whatever Doesn’t Kill Me Just Makes Me, But can stand alone. After max tries to kill her self she meets some new friends that can help her save the world from a new and improved Itex
1. Prologue

**Dear Readers,**

**This is the sequel to my story, The Battle of the Bands, which I changed the name to, Whatever Doesn't Kill Me Just Makes Me.**

**If you have already read it then you can skip this chapter and go read the next one.**

**If you haven't read it yet you should but incase you don't feel like it here's a quick recap.**

After Saving the World and Other Extreme sports, the flock was never reunited. Max, Angel, and Nudge all go to Max's Mom's house where they go to school. Max gets accepted to the University of Arizona. They start a band called, The Maximum Ride. Meanwhile Iggy, Gazzy, and Fang all try and find their parents. After no luck with Gazzy, Fang finally finds his parents and two sisters. Iggy, and Fang go to Brown while Gazzy goes to high school. They start a band called The Winged Renegade.

During spring break, five years later, the boys are headed to California but on the way they enter a battle of the band in Arizona. The girls also enter the battle. The winner of the battle of the bands gets a record deal.

While Max is performing Fang realize who she is. Max still doesn't know who he is. After he is finished performing he throws his pick to Max. On the pick Fang had inscribed _Max&Fang Flock Inc. _Max realized who they are and freaks out she beats put Fang but in the end finally forgives them all. She gets together with Fang.

The final Battle of the Bands party Max sees a band, the lead singer is Omega (who has been tracking Fang the whole time but couldn't find Max because she took out her chip). He calls the director who has been rebuilding Itex to be stronger then ever. Right when the winner was being announced flyboys come and attack. Fang has developed a new power that he can't control. He goes crazy and kills all the flyboys. Max tries to calm him down but he ends up thinking she's the enemy and punches her in the head, thus cracking her skull. The rest of the flock, not including Fang because he's in shock of what he just did, take Max to the hospital were she gets surgery and goes into a coma. While in the coma the voice tells Max that she has a new healing power and she will be okay and will be able to wake up in two days. That night when the flock went home, Fang sneaks into Max's room and see her there, in a coma.

He leaves again because he doesn't want to hurt her anymore, thus not allowing the flyboys and such to track the rest of the flock because Fang is the only one with the chip. One year later Max, Iggy, Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy are all in one band that is famous. Max decides she needs to leave so she plays one last show but at the end she snaps fly's off, about to commit suicide. Literally seconds from her death.

**Okay few****, a ****25,772-word story summarized in 454 words. I think that's pretty good.**

**Read, Write, Love, Inspire**

**-SMC**


	2. Heartbreak

**Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger**

**Chapter One: Heartbreak**

"_Goodbye, My almost lover." I whispered my final words as they got snatched by the wind and opened my eyes._

_Maximum's Final Ride._

I closed my eyes one last time squeezing them as hard as I could.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One!

I felt something slam into me with incredible force but it wasn't from the direction I expected. My left shoulder slammed into something and my temple crashed into something rock hard. I opened my eyes to see two golden eyes looking down at me.

Then it all went black.

Throbbing. Throbbing. I'm dead. I'm in heaven. No wait; heaven shouldn't be this painful. Oh my gosh! I'm in freaking hell aren't I?

I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard someone talking in the background.

"Lumen **(AN Lumen means light in Latin) **how could you bring her here?" said a deep voice.

"How could I not? She needs help! I can read her light it's so sad, so dark. I've never seen one so depressed as her." Said another deep voice, but it was smoother, softer then the last. I decided that it should be time to let my presence be known. I opened my eyes and sat up a bit. I was in a cave on the beach lying on the sandy ground. They're where two guys in the cave with me both about six feet five inches or so. One had light golden hair the other had shiny jet black.

The one with the blonde hair was dressed in bright colors; a yellow button up shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows and light blue jeans. The other with black hair was in all black, a black t-shirt, and black jeans. Their backs where turned to me. I cleared my throat and they both snapped their heads in my direction. Their faces looked identical but the blond one had gold eyes, and the dark one had black eyes, his irises where strange they looked like a drop black paint splattered onto the white of his eye instead of a perfect circle. They where both breathtakingly beautiful.

"Hello, I'm Lumen. I'm glad to see your okay." Said the Blonde he slowly walked towards me as if where some sort of animal that might freak out. Then he shot a look at the dark haired one who was hidden in the shadows his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"I'm Atrum. **(AN Atrum means dark in Latin)**" he hissed at me. I got to my feet and dusted off my pants, that's when I realized I had on a white t-shirt that was way to big for me. Despite my efforts, I blushed, but covered it with my wind blown hair.

"Maximum Ride." I hissed, glaring at Lumen. He looked somewhat shocked that I could talk, let alone sass him.

"That's no way to talk to someone who just saved your life." Atrum growled.

"I didn't want to be saved." I said matching his tone but switching my glare to him. He took a step forward and to my surprised the shadows fallowed him.

"Okay okay lets just calm down here your angry light it's blinding me." Lumen said chuckling a little. I gave him a confused look. He glanced at Atrum who have a small nod.

"Well sense you're a mutant too I don't think it will hurt to tell you." Then he snapped out his gold wings. They where beautiful and huge. They sparkled in the sunlight that was shining on him. He truly looked like an angel.

"I can read and control emotions. Its like a light that surrounds you, it changes colors according to your mood." He gave me a smug smile "And I can control light." He finished. Then, just to show off, he wiggled his fingers a little and a blinding light erupted in the cave. I shielded my eyes then he turned it off. I rolled my eyes at him, what a useless power.

"Atrum over there" he said motioning to Atrum who was still shooting daggers at me. "Can control darkness. Shadows and stuff and can see the future." He said. That shocked me a little. "That's how I caught you in time. He saw you falling."

"I'm not going to thank you. But I won't kill you." I said. Now that I looked back, I was really glad that he had caught me. I wasn't ready to die. Atrum gave a dark chuckle.

"I would like to see you try. You don't know who your messing with." He said. I rolled my eyes again; Blondie would defeat me by turning on a lamp, oh scary.

"Anyway, we are twins, incase you didn't see that before. We are both twenty. How old are you?" Lumen asked his cheeriness made me want punch that stupid, beautiful, smile off his pretty little face.

"None of your business." I growled. "Now if you are done interrogating me I'm going to go." I said walking toward the beach.

"Wait!" Lumen called after me. I didn't stop. He ran after me and walked beside me. "Your light, its such a deep purple, I've never seen someone so sad." He said quietly.

"Heartbreak will do that to you." I whispered with out thinking about it.

**Alrighty!**

**How do you like it so far?**

**Should Lumen be gay?**

**Don't worry you Fax fans, the next chapter is in Fangs POV.**

**Read, Write, Love, Inspire**

**-SMC**


	3. Thirsty Voices

**Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger**

**Chapter Two: Thirsty Voices**

**Fang POV**

My shoulders were aching. My wings were burning. My lungs were begging for oxygen. My heart was beating out of my chest.

I looked behind me _they_ were still on my tail, and gaining on me. I swallowed and poured on the speed. One word rang through my head.

Escape.

I knew my body couldn't take much more. I needed to land. Now. I franticly searched for some sort of cover. Sand sand and more sand. Goddamn the Sahara desert. After spending a month here I swore I would never step foot on a beach again. I looked back again they were about five meters behind me. I had to land I had no other choice I wouldn't be able to fight if I wasted all my energy flying. I quickly and gracefully landed. I turned to my opponents and let my power take over. I felt venom seeping into my veins. Taking over my blood stream, making me strong, powerful, unbreakable. I would regret it later but I had no other choice I had to use it. I felt my vision increase to the point where I could see every pore on their mutated faces. I could hear every gear turning in their computerize brains. Sense every vibration that ricocheted off the ground when they moved. My breathing slowed until it was almost nonexistent.

They landed about tow meters in front of me. I took a deep breath of desert air and attacked.

I laced my fingers together and slammed them into the sandy floor. A huge wave of red sand went rippling out in a perfect circle. The powerful wave collided with the enemies that surrounded me on every side; burring them under six or seven feet of tick sand. I searched the sand filled air for an opponent. I saw one climbing out of a hill of sand I smirked and lunged for it. I took its antennas and sapped them in two causing it to loose all senses and communication with the others. Then I slammed right between the eyes. It dropped as its red eyes blinked then darkened, the artificial life drained from them. I fought another twenty then the rest retreated. I brushed off some sand, and took off again. Flying always helped bottle up the Leach inside me.

___

Three days later New York was finally in view. I sighed in relief. I may be able to go months sleep but I am still human…sort of. I felt the Leach try so hard to suppress inside me trying to escape and take me over; but it was as weak as I was. I used every last amount of _my_ strength to suppress it. My throat and lungs burnt for a quick drink. I shouldn't have let the Leach out. Every time I get close to suppressing my thirst, I need to let _it_ out and my thirst gets so much more intense; painful. I become less human every time.

**MAX POV**

I sat on the sandy shore. Lumen and Atrum fell asleep an hour ago. I thought about them. I knew I would go insane if I stayed alone. I couldn't go back to the flock. I couldn't handle it. It brought back to many memories of him.

God what would** he** have said if **he** knew what I was about to do. I promised him that I wouldn't try anything like that again when I tried to get my chip out so many years ago. But he promised that he would never leave me. I guess we all were breaking promises. I didn't realize I was crying until a salty teardrop fell into my hand. I brought my knees up to my chest and buried my face in my arms.

_Maximum get a hold of yourself. _I jumped up and screamed a little. That voice in my head was all too familiar.

**Voice? **I asked.

_Hello Maximum. _It said back. I would never admit it to anyone but suddenly I didn't feel so alone.

**So we meet again. **I said sassy and sarcastic as ever.

_The world is in danger. It needs help. It needs a savior. It needs Maximum Ride. _It said back.

Please read the authors note. Thank you.

**Okay everyone has been freaking out on how bad my grammar/spelling is and its kinda frustrating.**

**First- Yes I have heard of spell check, yes I use it. I have dyslexia so it doesn't help much when all the options look exactly the same!**

**Second- I need a editor, someone who I can send chapters to before I post it so that the editor can, well, edit it and check for mistakes so you picky picky readers out there don't have a hissy fit, it has to be someone trust worthy *****cough the7flockmember if your willing cough***

**Third- I will not be posting until I find someone to do this for me, so send a review and I'll PM you the details if your interested **

**Thank You**

**Read, Write, Love, Inspire**

**-SMC**


	4. Soul Break

**Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger**

**Chapter Three: Soul Break**

**Max POV**

I shook my head trying to get the voice to go away finally after a few minuet of it ranting about my importance and how I need to save the world it shut up. I sighed in frustration when I felt eyes on the back of my head. I turned to see Atrum sanding, leaning against the side of the cave. One leg was bent and resting behind him on the wall the other was supporting his weight. He had his arms crossed over his chest. He gave me a once over and came to sit beside me.

"Why?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" I asked the puzzlement clear on my face.

"Why did you do it? Let your self fall I mean?" he asked goose bumps rose on my arms and the hair stood up on the back of my neck when I thought about the reason.

"I lost it." I whispered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. I surged.

"What was his name?" he asked.

"What? How did you-" he cut me off, "I may not be the warmest guy in the world but I know a broken soul when I see one."

"Why do you call it a broken soul not a heart?" I asked.

"Because, heart break can happen very easily, when a parent dies, when a grade school crush doesn't like you back, when a beloved puppy dies and be fixed just as quickly" He took in a small breath. "Only those who have meet their true match, their other side, their soul mate per say can feel soul break, heart break can be fixed. Soul break can never. It's truly like your missing a part of you." He whispered the last part. I realized it then that he must have gone through something similar to me.

"What was her name?" I asked. He gave me a questioning look.

"I may not be the warmest girl in the world but I know a broken soul when I see one." I quoted; he gave me a small smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"I asked you first." He said, I sighed.

"His name was Fang." I said. I felt the whole I've tried so hard to cover up in my chest tear open with the sound of his name.

"Her name was Poppy. You remind me of her." He said with another grim smile.

"What was she like?" I asked. A cold breeze blew past sending ocean spray across my cheeks. I shivered again and goose bumps covered my body, this time from the cold.

"Here." Atrum said heading me his black leather jacket I didn't realize he had on before. I hesitated but another gust went by and I put it on. It was too big for me but it still had his body heat.

"She was the most beautiful girl in the world. She had long slivery blonde hair and pale almost translucent skin but rosy cheeks. She had one blue eye and one brown eye. She looked like a living porcelain doll, so small and delicate that if you held her too hard she might shatter. But her personality was the complete opposite of her delicate, beautiful, soft exterior. She was sassy, brave, rude at times, but also passionate, and loving. But she was a human." His eyes were fixed on mine but a million miles away.

"She was the daughter of a whitecoat at Itex in Germany, where I was created. She was only six when Lumen and I escaped. We were both nine. They were going to turn her into a Wolf. (Eraser)" He shivered.

"I couldn't just leave her there, so I grabbed her before we broke out of that hell hole. A year after we escaped we found out she had epilepsy. She was in my arms when her first seizure happened we were flying to California from Texas. I was carrying her, she started to shake then it got more like convulsions and her eyes rolled back in her head. Lumen and I panicked. We brought her to the hospital and the diagnosed her. They asked us about our parents but we gabbed her medicine and booked out of there." A single tear rolled down his cheek.

"We found ways to get her prescription filled and get money, stupid little jobs. Things were good we eventually rented an apartment. When I was eighteen and she was fifteen we finally got together. I told her we would get married. I believed it too." He sighed.

"But one night when I took her flying." He swallowed hard and his eyes filled with self-hatred. "She had another seizer. I should have seen it coming, I should have been checking on her future but by the time I got her to a hospital it was too late. She was dead." He swallowed again and wiped away the lone tear. "That's all." He concluded.

"I'm, I'm so sorry" I said I pulled my hand through the long sleeves and grabbed his that was resting on his knee I gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Its not your fault you know. You can't blame yourself." I said after a few minuets of silence. He shrugged.

"So do you want to talk about Fang?" he asked I sighed and started the long story. Atrum and I talked for hours, about the flock, about Poppy, about Lumen. Eventfully I couldn't fight my heavy eyelids and sleep over took me.

* * *

The next morning I woke up back in the cave, another jacket over my legs. I sat up and stretched.

"Morning!" said Lumens cheery voice. I yawned. I rubbed my eyes.

"I can't believe we actually slept on the beach last night!" he said. I gave him a puzzled look; I assumed this was where they lived.

"Well you can't actually think we lived on the beach!" he said. "Come on up and at em. Atrum is already backing at the house." He said I stood up and shook out my wings. He threw him self out of the cave. He snapped out his gold wings and the sun seemed to shine so much brighter with him out side. I flew beside him he smiled at me. We flew over Time Square to an open field surrounded by forest. He landed on the long drive way and walked up to the front door. I followed him and he pulled out keys. We walked in to a wide room with an extravagant staircase.

"So, um do you plan on um." He stuffed one hand in his jean pocket and the other rubbed the back of his head. "Are you going to stay with us?" he asked his face emotionless but his eyes danced with hope and excitement. I had already made my decision last night.

"If you'll let me." I said smiling at him. He picked me up in a hug.

"You have NO idea what its like being stuck with Senor Emo all the time!" Said setting me back on me feet. I gave a small giggle as Atrum came down stairs. "I'll get it." He said five seconds later the phone rang. He picked it up and started talking. "Mhmm, yes okay I see… On the Fifth?...Yes of course we will be there… Lumen? Yes he will as well…Yes…Yes…Okay…Thank you Dr. Velencci" He hung up and turned to Lumen.

"There's a ball this weekend. For the hospital. Dr. Velencci wants us there." Atrum said. I gave him a puzzled look.

"Lumen and I work at Brooklyn General Hospital (AN idk if that's real?) We are the top sergeants with our intensified senses and our 'gifts' and there is a charity ball this weekend to raise money to open a hospital in Kenya, Africa." He said. I'm sure by this point my eyes were popping out of my head. Lumen laughed.

"You're coming to of course." Then he got down on one knee and took my hand in his "Will you my fine lady accompany me to the ball?" Lumen asked in a horrid British accent. I laughed and curtsied.

"Of course good sir." He grinned up at me and stood back up. I heard Atrum chuckle.

"Well let me show you too your room" Lumen said grabbing my hand and pulling me up the stairs.

He gave me a tour of the house and showed me my room. It had dark burgundy walls and a black carpet all the furniture was dark mahogany wood with gold accents. It reminded me something you would see in a mid-evil castle. I settled was laying down when Atrum knocked on my open door.

"Erm here's a t-shirt you can sleep in we don't have any girl clothes so we can go buy some stuff tomorrow in the city if you want." I smiled and thanked him. After a long shower I pulled on the oversized t-shirt that hit mid-thigh and fell asleep in my big puffy gold bed. The next morning I slipped into the pants I wore to the concert. That felt like years ago. I pulled my hair up and met Lumen down stairs.

"Hey! Atrum had to go to work but I can take you to the city to get some clothes if you'd like" he said I nodded and we went to his shiny sliver Porsche.

We parked and started toward Times Square walking past huge skyscrapers. When we walked past the plaza I couldn't help but think about the flock. They were probably back home in Arizona by now. I sighed and walked away.

"Is that her? Is that Maximum Ride?" I heard someone ask from across the street. I looked to see a group of girls. One screamed and they charged me. I groaned grabbed Lumen and ran to a dark alley. The mob of fans ran past the alley just like in the movies and I let out a sigh of relief. Lumen gave me a puzzle look when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

**Fang POV**

I awoke the next morning on top of the skyscraper I fell asleep on. My throat was burning and my lungs were begging for oxygen. I knew I needed to feed, now. I looked off the side of the building when I saw two people in a dark ally below, away from any witnesses. I jumped off the building and spread my wings just enough to land. I landed in the shadows. The people were a guy and a girl both blonde. My throat begged to lunge. I felt the muscles in my legs coil ready to pounce. I shot forward colliding with the girl. She fell on her back I pushed her chin up and my fangs shot towards her neck. They dug into the soft skin and warm blood filled my mouth. It would look like I was kissing her neck from any observer. She was struggling but soon her body fell limp. I reluctantly pulled back before I killed the poor thing. I quickly sealed the two small holes with my tongue and turned to my other victim.

"Hey buddy get off of her!" he yelled. I licked my cherry red lips and lunged. He fell and I grabbed his wrist I quickly drank enough to nock him out and retracted my fangs. I turned to man. He was tall probably as tall as me with blonde hair. I propped him up against the wall so he wouldn't be sore when he woke. I may be a monster but at least I'm considerate. Then I turned to the girl I brushed away her hair and gasped. The beauty behind the gold locks was Max.

"Maximum" I whispered as her eyes fluttered open.

**GASP! Hahaha okay so tell me what you think!**

**I kinda based the character Poppy after myself, with the different colored eyes but I made her pretty haha.**

**Read, Write, Love, Inspire**

**-SMC**


	5. I'm Backk

**Hello my lovely beautiful readers!  
I'm soooo sorry I haven't updated in like forever. Lots of things have been going on and I honestly forgot all about it. But I am back.**

**I've re-read all my stories and this one is kinda cheesy I don't know why but I don't really like it, and I don't really have the inspiration I used to.**

**BUT I will continue it if you really want me to so leave a review if you want me to continue in the mean time I'll be updating my less suckish stories and writing new ones.**

**Again I'm sorry for falling off the planet. **

**Read, Write, Love, Inspire**

**-SMC**


End file.
